Climate Conversations Workship for Shapers:

Saturday, March 18, 2023⋅10:30am – 1:00pm

JCC Climate Conversations Workshop : Saturday, August 19, 2023⋅9:00am – 12:00pm

UNF Climate Conversations Workshop : Saturday, January 27th, 2024⋅9:00am – 12:00pm

Purpose:

"Conversations that inspire collective action"

 

Project:

Designing and hosting communication-oriented, skills-building workshops in partnership with the National Network for Ocean and Climate Change Interpretation (NNOCCI) and Impact by Design — in a psychologically safe environment — for different segments of the Jacksonville community.

 

 

Goal:

Support participants in having productive, solutions-oriented dialogue about climate change with others, and to help them feel more positive and confident in having those conversations.

Problem Statement:

Community members within the City of Jacksonville, FL, are experiencing the climate crisis first hand yet are confronted with misinformation — fueled by politically charged rhetoric — or are hesitant to talk about climate change with others, preventing the dialogue necessary to drive co-creative, community-level solutions and mitigate the risks that climate change poses to Jacksonville.  

 

Target Group:

Our target groups within the Jacksonville community are the following: young professionals (Jacksonville Hub Global Shapers), university students, environmentally focused civil society organizations, and the interfaith community. 

 

Proposed Solution

The Jacksonville, FL, Hub of the Global Shapers Community plans to equip members of the Jacksonville community with communication techniques that can help dispel misinformation about the climate crisis and drive the healthy dialogue necessary to promote climate action. We are actively designing and will host communication-oriented, skills-building workshops in partnership with the National Network for Ocean and Climate Change Interpretation and Impact by Design — in a psychologically safe environment — for different segments of the Jacksonville community with a goal of supporting participants in having productive, solutions-oriented dialogue about climate change with others, and to help them feel more positive and confident in having those conversations. Specifically, we are targeting the following stakeholders: young professionals affiliated with the Jacksonville hub of the Global Shapers Community, local University students, environmentally focused civil society organizations based in Jacksonville, and the interfaith community, reaching congregations across the city. Through such an approach, members of the Jacksonville community will be trained to advance personal and professional conversations aimed at building a more climate resilient Jacksonville. Participants will also leave with a better understanding of the basics and psychology of human behavior change so they are better prepared as community leaders to foster the shifts in behavior necessary to match the scale of climate change.

 

Hub Activities

We will start by hosting four skill building workshops, which will be tailored for each of the four target groups. Each workshop will be 2-3  hours long with the aim of training up to 50 people. Workshops will be interactive and participatory. 

 

Short & Long-Term Goals/Results

 

Short Term

Hold space for community members to learn communication techniques that can assist in building healthy, solutions-focused dialogue when discussing climate change with others. By being better equipped with the skills to promote civil discourse, community members can be effective advocates for climate solutions either in personal or professional settings.

 

Long Term

Through Climate Conversation workshops, the Jacksonville Hub aims to promote conversations that inspire collective action amongst community stakeholders across sectors. 

 

 

Available Metrics

The hub aims to provide 12-16 hours worth of training to 60-150 members of the Jacksonville community. We will also be providing a survey that will capture data pre/post workshop to measure the trainings’ impact. 

 

Collaborators

The Jacksonville Hub will be collaborating with Lauren Watkins, Ph.D. of Impact by Design and member of the National Network for Ocean and Climate Change Interpretation (NNOCCI), a network that aims to change the national conversation around climate change to be positive, civic-minded, and solutions-focused. NNOCCI uses evidence-based communications methods, provides social-emotional support, and employs the latest climate science findings and applies them in their institutions. They build trust and lasting bonds among colleagues across the country to develop effective ways to engage audiences in learning about climate and ocean change. Additionally, our hub will be collaborating with Brendan Rivers, the former lead reporter and host for ADAPT, WJCT Public Media’s digital magazine and podcast exploring how Northeast Florida is adapting to sea level rise and other effects of climate change. WJCT Public Media is the community-owned and operated public media organization serving Jacksonville and the First Coast since 1958, using television, radio, digital media, and live events to help community members learn, share, and grow.

 

Lauren Watkins Bio: Lauren Watkins, Ph.D. is the Principal of Social Science and Research for the nonprofit consulting firm Impact by Design. She is an environmental psychologist who specializes in human behavior change and explores novel ways to improve how people communicate with one another about environmental issues and challenges. Lauren’s career spans many institutions including the National Network for Ocean and Climate Change Interpretation, Florida Park Service, National Park Service, National Estuarine Research Reserve System, and White Oak Conservation. She has more than a decade of experience helping organizations effectively communicate about environmental topics, especially when their goal is shifting human behavior towards a more sustainable future. 

 

 

Brendan Rivers Bio: Special Projects Producer Brendan Rivers joined WJCT News in August of 2018 after several years as a reporter and then News Director at Southern Stone Communications, which owns and operates several radio stations in the Daytona Beach area. Brendan helped launch and for years served as lead reporter for ADAPT, WJCT’s digital magazine exploring how Northeast Florida is adapting to sea level rise and other effects of climate change. He also hosted the ADAPT podcast. Brendan's bylines include NPR, The Guardian, InsideClimate News, Grist, Living On Earth, The Miami Herald, The Florida Times-Union and Folio Weekly. He is a member of the Society of Environmental Journalists and a former fellow with InsideClimate News and Climate Matters in the Newsroom.

 

For more information: https://www.globalshapers.org/hubs/jacksonville-hub